The present invention relates to an image processing technology, and more particularly, to an image processing technology that is applied to vehicle racing games of video game devices.
Conventionally, application programs of home game devices include games that perform races by using vehicles (four-wheeled vehicles and two-wheeled vehicles and so forth).
In racing games of this type, opponents exist and compete with one another over the travel time from a starting point to a goal point as a result of a plurality of different racers manipulating the speed and steering of each of a plurality of vehicles.
Here, the proposal is such that a circumferential course is established as the course layout and, when an evaluation of the state of completion of the game is performed by means of the total time when vehicles in a game program go around the course a plurality of times, as a criterion for judging the extent of the difference between the lap time of each circuit and the fastest lap time based on the previous history, trail images (ghost cars) based on the history are made to travel together on the course with the vehicles (See Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-153069).
Further, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-1530696, the fact that it is sometimes not possible for a moving body that is actually moving to travel together with ghost cars on the same screen as a result of the time difference between the moving body and the ghost cars is presented as a problem and, in order to solve this problem, an excessive widening of the gap between the actual moving body and the ghost cars is suppressed by updating the trail image in circuit units and regenerating the display of the trail image, for example.
However, because the course layout is basically a circumferential course in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-153069, when the previous history is selected, data for the fastest speed, and so forth, for example, can be unmistakably established. However, in cases where there is a branching point in the course layout, when the course through which the operator is actually moving through real-time manipulation and the movement courses of the selected history are different, the ghost cars are not able to travel together beyond the branching point.
Although, for race sections, division into circuit units, and division into linear sections and curved sections are mentioned in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-153069, the course layout itself is a circumferential course and, if selected parameters (history of fastest speed and so forth) are selected for each race section, because trail images (ghost cars) are unmistakably established, course movement rendered through actual manipulation by the operator is not considered and not a concept.